Silence
by QuinSeparable
Summary: All he can hear is voices taunting him. He thinks that taking a walk will silence them, but will it bring about another surprise all together? [One-shot][WillUmi][Done for WillUmi week on Tumblr]


**A/N: Another prompt from CL Otp Week on Tumblr. Enjoy some WillUmi! :)**

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Noise. It was everywhere. He couldn't escape it. Even among the confines of his dorm room, something always seemed to be going on. In his head usually. He'd hear echoes of the past, his possession coming up to haunt him. It was always worse at night. There his demons were able to rear their ugly heads and shout everything and anything they wanted.

_You're worthless Dunbar. _

_They don't care. Nobody cares._

_You've done too many bad things. This won't last. _

_They only need you now. As soon as XANA's defeated, they'll leave you again._

_You'll be alone again William._

_Always alone._

_Alone._

He groaned, throwing the covers off his body. Another sleepless night for certain. Perhaps he'd go out and make good use of it. Throwing a shirt and jeans on, William slipped his feet into a pair of shoes and slipped his head out of the door of his dorm room. Just as he thought, no one was out and about, not that he was surprised of course. It was late. Even Jim was likely to be asleep.

The air felt cool on his warm skin. God, had he even fallen asleep? He couldn't remember. It seemed that his nightmares and his waking life melded into one. Sometimes when he thought he was awake, he was really asleep and vise versa. It was all very confusing and not helpful to his mental state.

Even in the quiet of the night, sounds drifted around, forming images in his mind, making him jump. William wasn't easily startled by any means, but the months living under XANA's control made him far more paranoid than ever before it seemed. It was understandable. He was just hoping that now, after all this time being freed he would have gotten over it by now. Or, at the very least, not think that ever rustling leaf was the Scyphozoa.

Just the thought of the jellyfish sent a wave of panic through him. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, his body tensed and his eyes clenched shut. No, not here. Not now. But he couldn't stop it, no matter what he tried to keep himself in the present, it failed.

_It was time. Time to prove himself once and for all to Yumi's group of friends that he could be trusted and that they hadn't made a mistake letting him fight with them on Lyoko. His sword was huge, and only boosted his false ego. But he couldn't understand, why were they freaking out? _

_A strange noise came from behind him and he turned to see this creature looming in front of him. A jellyfish of sorts. Jeremie and Aelita were panicked, but he couldn't understand what the big deal was. It seemed easy to beat. Swinging his sword, he found himself missing it. The weapon was really hard to weild and he was findining that he was having all sorts of problem dealing any damage._

_That's when it smacked his weapon away. Tentacles encircled him, pulling him up into the air. Then he felt it. Fear. Panic. What was this and why couldn't he move? And what were they doing moving toward his head?_

_His eyes remained open, he couldn't close them. All he could feel was something moving around in his brain. William tried to fight against it but it only became painful each time he tried. Pain and nothing more. What was happening? If he could have, he would have screamed. Oh god, it hurt! He tried to keep whatever was happening from happening, but he wasn't strong enough. They were right, he wasn't strong. He was weak. The pain began to subside as he faded from conscious memory, a slave in his own mind. Jeremie had been shouting something, panicked. "William!"_

"William!"

A voice jolted him out of his flashback and the boy jumped, fists poised and ready to strike. He held his mouth agape when he saw her. "Yumi? What are you doing out here?" He hoped she hadn't noticed the shaking in his voice.

"I should ask you the same question?" she looked angry but concerned at the same time. "I thought you were done stalking the front of my house?"

He looked over and saw that somehow he'd ended up in front of the Ishiyama residence. Strange, he hadn't remembered doing so. Flashing a lopsided grin he shrugged. "Guess I can't stay away."

Her face was far from convinced. "What's wrong William?"

"Nothing," he jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, trying to keep on a pleasant smile.

"I know you're lying so save it Dunbar," Yumi shot back. She didn't look angry any longer however, just concerned. Finally the boy sighed. It would be no use hiding anything from her. She knew him too well for that.

"Nightmares," came his response. Yumi knew all too well about the flashbacks and such he'd been having. Not too long before he had confided in her when she'd pushed him. He'd been looking like hell and she had been worried.

"About your possession?" she asked, stepping toward him. William merely nodded, what else could he do? Her hand was on his arm before he realized it and his heart quickened at the realization. Though he had given up his pursuit of the girl, he still very much loved her. Just that hand on his arm would have been reassurement enough, but she continued to spoke, filling the pause between them. "You know it wasn't your fault."

"Doesn't mean I don't still think back to it," William replied, stepping closer to the girl. "It's not like I want to of course. I just can't help it."

"I know the feeling," Yumi muttered under her breath.

She had confided in him once about the nightmares and flashbacks she herself had. They weren't about what XANA made her do of course, but what XANA did to her. To all of them. Even what XANA had made _him_ do to _her._ That was the same nightmare the two shared.

"Is that why you're out and about this late, Yumes?" he asked, calling her by his recent nickname for her. The girl shrugged but said nothing in reply. "Hey you want to walk a bit with me?"

Looking up at him with those chocolate eyes, William could see in that moment just how troubled she truly was. Maybe more so than he was – it startled him. There was undeniable pain there – perhaps her exhaustion let it shine through. Either something recently was bothering her more or she was good at masking it.

William knew she was a great actress.

Hooking his arm around her own, William began to walk with her. Yumi didn't protest or stop him. Was that his imagination or was she leaning closer to him? He towered over the girl, and when he turned to look at her, he had to look down. "What's bothering you Yumi?"

It seemed like any crack of control she had had over her emotions broke with that question. William watched her shoulders slack and heard her breathe out a shaky sigh. "I…I'm just sick of it all, you know? The danger, the pain, the nightmares, the flashbacks, the specters, XANA, Lyoko…I just want to be normal again."

"I understand that," William commented.

"I just want to be normal. I've never gotten the chance to really be a normal teenager. These past four years of my life have been stolen from me by that damn AI. Time I'll never get back. And I'll never ever have my piece of mind again. Twenty years from now, I'll still be looking over my shoulder wondering 'is this the day he's finally going to kill me'? I…I just don't want that to be my future!"

Her breath hitched and William stopped walking, turning her to face him. His eyes widened at the sight of tears escaping the corner of her eyes. "Yumi…" What could he say to her? Yes he understood completely what she was going through – maybe better than she knew – but nothing he could say could erase any of that. He, of all people, knew that.

In that moment, he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around the girl. It was as if by doing so, he'd pulled down the last barriers she had left. He heard a sob and felt her bury her face into his chest. In the middle of the sidewalk in the dead of night, he stood there holding the object of his affection, though he wished he could be hugging her under completely different circumstances. Seeing her hurt so much caused his own heart to clench. He would gladly take away all that pain she was feeling if that would make her feel better.

Unfortunately, this seemed to be all he could do. He would do it too even if he had to stand there with her all night, he wouldn't let her go until she told him to. His hand moved to her head and he stroked her hair. "I know it's hard Yumi," he whispered to her. "And I wish I could tell you that everything would be alright. But I can't because I don't know. But I do know this…"

She had pulled back to look at the ground as if embarrassed by her breakdown. Her tear stained cheeks pained him as he snaked a finger under her chin, pulling gently upward to make her look at him. "I know that you're one tough cookie Yumes. You'll be alright. And whenever you aren't, I'm here for you. You know that."

Her next action took him completely by surprise. She raised herself up on her tiptoes, planting her lips to his cheek. She sniffled a bit, she wiped her eyes once she pulled away. "Thank you William. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He stifled a blush as she pulled away, much to William's disappointment. "I should be getting back inside."

"Yeah." William shuffled his foot on the ground. "Wouldn't want you to get into trouble."

"See you tomorrow William."

"Yup. See you."

She turned and made her way back to her home. With a final wave she slipped back inside the darkened house. William smiled, glad for once that his nightmares had forced him outside. Helping Yumi was worth not sleeping for two nights. But even as he walked back he felt his smile grow brighter. For in that moment there was nothing, no sound.

Silence.


End file.
